Apr. 25, 2013

Dustin Swayne has been named deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Written by

The Tennessean

Two veteran state employees have been promoted to top posts within the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, where they’ll be tasked with correcting problems uncovered in a recent audit.

The department named Dustin Swayne as deputy commissioner — the agency’s second-in-command — and Linda Davis as administrator of the Division of Employment Security, which oversees unemployment claims.

The changes follow within weeks of abrupt high-level resignations and the publication of auditors’ sharp criticisms of the department, which failed to monitor fraud and delayed sending checks to thousands of out-of-work Tennesseans.

Three leaders resigned in mid-March: former commissioner Karla Davis, former deputy commissioner Alisa Malone, and Turner Nashe, former assistant administrator of employment security. The audit came out March 28.

Swayne, a licensed attorney who oversaw some programs probed by auditors, will take on more responsibility for fixing issues within the department, said agency spokesman Jeff Hentschel.

“He definitely understands unemployment and how that needs to operate more effectively,” Hentschel said. “He was already involved and familiar with all of those (audit) issues.”

Swayne joined the department in 2004. His roles have included oversight of the state’s career development programs and monitoring the agency’s use of federal stimulus funds, including budgets of approximately $335 million, according to information provided by the department.

Linda Davis, a 31-year employee, moves from director of labor market information to administrator of employment security, filling a position left unfilled since June.

At the time, former employment security administrator Donald Ingram was dismissed. He later sued the department, charging in court that he was a victim of a pattern of race-based decisions that brought in black employees to replace whites.

After Ingram left, Malone, the former deputy commissioner, temporarily oversaw the division until she resigned March 15, Hentschel said.